From LaBelle, Florida for Hendry and Glades County and the Lake Okeechobee region. Don Browne, editor.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

How Harold Camping Survived The Rapture

Why We Survived The End Times This Week

Harold Camping, 89-year old engineer and Family Radio evangelist, (and some now say, false prophet), predicted 6 P.M. May 21th, 2011 as the time of the Rapture, based on calculations of coded scripture from the Christian Bible.

Was he correct? Or was he or God testing us? That's just two of the explanations available to Camping and those who believe the end of the world was, or is yet near.

Life will go on. Even the most fervent believer in Camping's prediction, will soon forget the 6 p.m. time passed without much ado, or at the very least will look forward to the next date for a mysterious happening, whether the date of another end time, or the prediction of good times ahead; a booming economy, and the time when our homes jump in value again, signaling a new Era.

Fortunately most of us are very resilient, we can come back from our disappointments, bouncing back from the realization that things didn't go as we thought they might go.

Even a lottery winner, eventually realizes things aren't as good as hoped, and a jailed person after a while, realizes being incarcerated isn't as bad as thought.

And here is what Camping and others might explain as to just why the world end didn't realize exactly as promised.

Speculation On What Rapture Believers Will Say This Week:

1. The math was incorrect. An error will be found in calculating the true date of the end time. (I forgot to carry the 0)

2. God was testing us. God is a great joker. Sometime he just wants to make sure we believe in Him. (Abraham, I want you to kill your son. Just kidding)

God found this week, so many of His people were obedient in considering the possibility the end that He has postponed the end times for later.

The Rapture was claimed by Camping to leave everyone (other than the 200 million select) simply "unconscious," hell was not promised even for the unbelieving said Camping followers.

Those who doubt the event happened are merely not in their right minds. Those who have raptured know better, entering a "new place," they see the "miracle changes" brought by God to the world.

5. The New Millennial Age Is Here (What, you don't see it?)

A new world order is happening now. Since Saturday, more people believe in the power of God and are coming to Jesus. Church attendance is up. Politicians are professing their belief in God. Governments are becoming more democratic all over the world, especially in non-Christian mid-eastern regions. What more proof do you need?

6. God Changed His Mind. (God and women have this right)

God has simply changed his mind. God, after all, has the right to do whatever He wants. He is all powerful, and no one can know the true mind of God. We don't yet know why he changed his mind.

The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer, a new 500-page book to be released this week, explains how science can tell why we often believe in logic that's not quite logical, while believing in our heart we are truly right. We make plans, take actions, and even take detrimental directions in our lives, based on faulty decision making.

Shermer aptly explains how we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths, an accurate description of what happened this week.

Clearly HC & Co. haven't studied the man-made word 'rapture'--which is not in the KJV bible. The KJV is the closest to the original scrolls, and accurately translated.HC and others like him have not been given to understand God's counsel, thus we have chaos, misinterpretation, and false hope. Sadly, that is your lot.

The 'end' shall eventually come, but not in the way that you believe. God does not 'change his mind' as you claim. The tribulation spoken of by Christ in Matthew and elsewhere in the scruptures is already upon the earth, but quite different and more horrible than most incorrectly think.

Trying to interrupt the Bible without the guidance of the Holy Sprit will get you results like this. I fall back on a this statement. "The Bible is a dead letter except by the Spirit". Smith Wigglesworth.

For a short time it made me think of what is really important. My family. Maybe some of us can look at ourselves and make changes for the better. Maybe Harold Camping was trying to get us to look inside ourselves to change. Holy shit I can't belive I'm saying this..

I don't know much about Scripture, but from what I have read over the weekend, God seems like a really odd kinda guy. One day He plans to destroy the earth, and make the non believers (which would include my two young kids, and presumably the Muslims, buddhists etc) suffer a terrible torment. Seems a bit odd, don't you think, that the thing He cares about most is whether you believe in Him. Not whether you have a strong internal moral compass, care for your neighbours, love your children, pay your taxes, ease suffering. No, if you don't "believe" to his satisfaction, you are doomed. What a weird requirement.

I just feel sorry for the folks that followed this moron. He has torn the lives of so many people by leading them to dumping their life savings into his worthless causes. Harold Camping should do the world a long owed favor and consider suicide.

Well said; I expect one of the above, if not a combination of several among believers. The amount of people mocking Camping was overwhelming yesterday, and I honestly can put my hand up to say, "I was one of them".

I hope that this event teaches many people a lesson, acting as an eye (or rather, mind) opening event. It would be nice if religion took a declining turn. I secretly have hoped for a religion to cause it’s own “death” via crushing the ‘faith” of its own believers; I would be happy to hear an increase in the number of level headed agonistics or atheists. Why spend your limited existence pondering creation when that time could be spent doing more valuable, notable, worthy things?

The interpretations of Bronze age scriptures is bound for failure... It is incredible that humans still believe in these fairy tales and use them to rule their lives. At least the number of secularism is increasing in developed nations, where people have better access to education. Of course religious zealots are still common in poor nations.... and the USA.

You can delete my comments, but you can't deny the fact that when reading through all these previous comments and comparing them to the Scriptures I stated, they are almost 100% accurate in predicting the signs of the end of the Age.

@Babbling Brooke, the problem with many Christian denominations today is that they still preach the doctrine of eternal punishment in Hell for the unrighteous and unbelievers. As a Bible Student, I have studied the Scriptures for many years, and believe the idea of there even being a Hell goes against everything God has said/stands for in the Bible. When looking into the original translations of the Bible in Hebrew, it becomes apparent that 'hell' is used in place of the word "sheol" which is simply the 'grave'. Hell, in essence, is a state of unconciousness. This statement is supported by many scriptures in the Bible. There is no activity, and the dead know nothing. There is no such thing as eternal torment.

Camping just fulfilled a prophecy for the End Times: (Luke 21:8) And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not go after them.

If these people had actually read their Bibles, they would know that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mark 13:32) If Jesus didn't know the rapture date when He was in human form, why did Camping think he or any human being could possibly know? You can only know "the season" meaning a general approximation.

You just made my day! The eternal damnation thing always had me scared. Eternal rest, that is something which I could do with! After so much activity and turmoil on this planet one could say we've already been in hell and a time of rest and "No Activity" would be greatly welcomed.

As for the previous comment about the bible being next to lord of the rings, well thats just ignorace the bible is used to better of man not to inslave man. The bible were ancient scriptures made by the judea sect called the essenes. I highly believe that jesus was an incarnation of many gods that have lived on earth such as Lord Krishna, Adam, Soloman, ect... as for the rapture /armageddon are not battles that will be faught in the physical realm but in the spiritual. I pray for all the people that were mislead . Peace and Love to all.

@BabblingBrooke, and to others who have such a misguided interpretation of the Bible: God's "requirement" is not just to believe in him - even Satan believes in God - but to accept the gift he has given to us. He sent his only son to die as a sacrifice for fallen humanity. Because "all fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) we cannot make it to heaven on our own. God's standard is perfection, because he himself is perfect, so even the smallest sin - by our standards - makes you a sinner. Even Mother Theresa could not have made it into heaven if she had not accepted Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross he took on the punishment for your sins, so that you can enter into heaven not under your own righteousness, but by your acceptance of the gift God has given you. If I were to give you a gift, you would be "required" to accept it and unwrap it before you were able to use it, correct? So accepting the gift of God's grace is no different. It is free, held out to each person out of his great love for us. God will forgive every person for their sins, no matter how great or small, we only need to accept this gift.

To the person who commented that there is no Hell: You are a Bible Student? At what Bible College? I find it hard to believe an reputable Bible college would teach such a thing. The word "Sheol" actually has several meanings. It can mean a literal grave, but in the context of the biblical themes it means a place separate from life. Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the the LIFE" (John 14:6), so "Sheol" is a place separate from Jesus (i.e. separate from life). Matthew 13:42 says: "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt 25:41: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Shall I go on? There are over 162 direct references to hell in the New Testament. One of the Devil's strategies is to make you believe he (and Hell) do not exist. Do not be deceived. Every person is an eternal being, and since we have free will, you get to choose where you spend it. I suggest you choose wisely. Eternity lasts for a loooong time.

One wonders where one's beliefs ends and mental illness begins. For example, if a couple dumps their life savings and drives their kids in a minivan to a place while awaiting the 'rapture', why wouldn't child protective services have a legitimate case for taking action against the parents?

False predictions are part of the prophecy. lookup web bot 2012. The rein of the self appointed elitists will soon come to and end as the world goes through many changes that happening and that will happen. GOD wants to transform the world. Follow his commandment of loving one another and live the example of Christ.

Ephesians 6:1111Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.

God made a slight misjudgement in the force needed to move the tectonic plates... He thought just using His little finger would do the trick but didn't realise Satan had already botched His plan by shifting the entire western Pacific plate on March 11... God is pretty damned annoyed (not to mention Howard Camping) and apparently re-calculating the whole thing will take a day or so (1,000 years) so we can sleep easy for the moment...

To ALL of you that do not accept Jesus Christ as your saviour,I pray that Jesus will open your eyes before its too late.Do not judge others or you will be judged.Learn to forgive and forget.Bless you all in JESUS name.

To the person who said, "jesus did not die on the cross, he lived to old age and fathered a few children. there is no God. only life energy." If you want to argue against Jesus, at least be a good critic. Non-Christian historical scholars like Josephus document the death of Jesus and controversy among Jews who claimed he resurrected. You sound as ridiculous as Camping. Use your life energy to formulate a logical argument. For example, if you want to say Jesus' disciples stole his body then that's more likely even though I personally disagree with that statement. To say he was never crucified and had grandchildren makes you look foolish not only in front of Christians but in front of good non-believing skeptics too. Seriously, use some of your life energy to ignore Camping and investigate Jesus. It will be an interesting spiritual experience.

I am offended at being lumped into a "Christian" group with Camping. He is no Christian and that is obvious by the way he thinks that he has God "figured out." For those of you out there, who want to put all the Christians of the world into the same "pot" as this foolish, foolish man, please don't. Get an education on what Christianity is. Christians aren't perfect, don't profess to be perfect, don't think that they are better than anyone else. If you run into someone like that, please don't believe that they are a representation of true Christians. Only reason I am signing this Anonymous is because I don't want to go to all the trouble of providing anymore info...

@Holly:Perhaps you should look up the term Bible Student? It is a Christian movement led by the ministry and teachings of Charles Taze Russell; I do not attend a Bible 'college', only weekly Sunday meetings. The verses you've referenced, I believe, allude to the Millenial Age - after Judgement Day has occured and the High Calling has been taken up. There will be suffering, but in this Age, everyone will know or have the chance to know God and thus attain eternal life on Earth (as opposed to heaven, where the Church class will be). Jesus died for ALL, not just the righteous, but for ALL MANKIND - even unbelievers - because God is just God, and he loves all his children, why would he not give all of them a chance for eternal, peaceful life? Ecclesiates 9:5 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten"and 10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom".The opposite of life is death....not punishment.Everyone will die and be resurrected; but only the righteous will be granted eternal life, whilst those who reject God (for a second time in the Millenial Age) will be cast down to the grave for good.

Moreover, in Revelations 1:18, Jesus himself states:"I am the Living; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the key of death and Hades" - Jesus has the keys to Hell, not Satan.- Psalm 13:3 - death is likened to sleep; a state of unconsciousness- Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27 - death --> the graveHell is thus a condition, as is Life. Hell is death.

Camping and his followers should just say sorry we were wrong and ask forgiveness from God and the people that they have deceived and hurt(Matthew 18:15-17) but instead of doing that they are trying still to find ways around for sure they are so thick faces and stubborn more than anything. Please repent and acknowledge your awful mistakes and God will take you as if you never did any mistake(1 John 1:9) otherwise you will have to face the sentence of the false prophets. Please brothers it is not time to find more false explanations but just akcknowledge your big wrong, that's it.Hope you do, i will be praying for you guys, God bless you